Slovak Language Act Against Internal Market: Provincialism Is Bad for Business Cover Image

Szlovák nyelvtörvény kontra belső piac: a provincializmus az üzletnek is árt
Slovak Language Act Against Internal Market: Provincialism Is Bad for Business

Author(s): Csongor István Nagy
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, EU-Legislation
Published by: Scientia Kiadó
Keywords: free movement; internal market; language act; minority right

Summary/Abstract: The general (and over-simplified) opinion on the EU-law conformity of the Slovak Language Act (as amended on 30 June 2009) is that the EU as an economic integration does not deal with European values, including the rights of ethnic minorities. The paper demonstrates that this statement is flawed, and even if the foregoing proposition were accepted, the provisions violating the rights of ethnic minorities are not beneficial to the economy: these rules may hinder inter-state trade and, thus, can infringe the law of the internal market. The purpose of the paper is to enrich the tools of minority protection with a novel approach, and for demonstrating this, through the requirements of internal market, it analyses, in details, the provisions of the Slovak Language Act.

  • Issue Year: 1/2012
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 223-231
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: Hungarian